http://www.bnet.com/5799-13610-0.html?type=18 Blog Recent Discussion Activity http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/10/what-market-are-you-really-in/#22721_109103 The fundamental reason that Apple has been able to <br>reinvent itself and to create entirely new market categories <br>is that it has extraordinary capabilities. Basing your strategy <br>on where you would like to be, without regard for what <br>you're good at, is a recipe for disaster, as Apple itself <br>discovered in the 1980s. Kodak does not have the <br>capabilities to enter mobile devices market, nor did Olivetti <br>have those to succeed in word processing. <br><br>www.kieranlevis.com Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:32:44 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/10/what-market-are-you-really-in/#22721_109103 2010-02-10T11:32:44Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/10/what-market-are-you-really-in/#22721_109078 Stuart,<br><br>Right on... I think we forget our real business. Educational <br>institutions are selling more than education. They sell hope. <br>Hope for a better life. Churches aren't in the religion <br>business. They sell meaning enrichment through relationship <br>with God. Accountants sell confidence and security. Toy <br>manufacturers sell enjoyment.<br><br>In addition, Leaders do well understanding what they sell. I <br>wrote about in the blog, "Why others follow." <br><a href="http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/why-" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/why-</a><br>others-follow/<br><br>Thanks for pointing to something bigger than making products <br>or selling services.<br><br>Regards<br><br>Leadership Freak<br>Dan Rockwell Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:25:16 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/10/what-market-are-you-really-in/#22721_109078 2010-02-10T10:25:16Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2009/12/07/10-reasons-to-love-iphone10-reasons-to-love-blackberry/#19497_108859 iphone is really a good option.Though there are certain limitation so i wanna go for Blackberry.<a href="http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2459543">Acai Berry</a> | <a href="http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2459543">Acai</a> |<a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/acai-berry-weight-loss-try-acai-berry-for-free-1798369.html">Acai Berries</a> | <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/acai-berry-weight-loss-try-acai-berry-for-free-1798369.html">Acai Berry</a> | <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/acai-berry-weight-loss-try-acai-berry-for-free-1798369.html">Acai</a>|<a href="http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2459543">Acai Berries</a> Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:42:22 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2009/12/07/10-reasons-to-love-iphone10-reasons-to-love-blackberry/#19497_108859 2010-02-09T13:42:22Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_108858 Ksamad, that depends on which problem you are referring to. <br>The solutions to the problem of irrationally high pay are dealt <br>with in detail in my book. For a variety of reasons, <br>government intervention and taxation are not the answer. It <br>is up to us, the owners of large public companies through our <br>pensions and savings, to organise ourselves to stop others <br>getting rich at our expense for no convincing reason. <br>Democratic societies only change for the better over time <br>because decent people work extremely hard to achieve that <br>change.<br><br>If you are asking how talented people can be accommodated <br>in large organisations, this is a problem with no obvious <br>solution. Meritocracy will always be a threat to incumbents at <br>the top of a corporate bureaucracy. They are at the top <br>already - what have they got to gain from it? Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:39:46 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_108858 2010-02-09T13:39:46Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/08/the-pinch-closes-down-baby-boomers-justifications/#22679_108869 As a baby boomer over 45 I take exception to this article.<br><br>Looking back over my own career - when I graduated we were in a recession engineered in the early 80's by slavery to Monetrist doctrine - that's long since been abandoned - but jobs were hard to come by - even if you were well-qualified.<br><br>Then professions were down-skilled after I had worked hard to achieve qualifications - and eroded as anybody can do a degree these days.<br><br>Then, again as a result of government interventions, pension funds were raided on the grounds that 'companies would have to make up the shortfall anyway' - what rubbish! Final salary schemes have long since been scrapped. <br><br>In terms of my mortgage - when I needed one there was a squeeze on money (moneterism again) - so we couldn't borrow enough money.<br><br>Holidays/terms and conditions - the company I worked for offered 20 days leave per year - 37 hour week. Taxes were considerably higher when I started work - they have come down since the 70's.<br><br>To summarise - every generation has to deal with challenges - ours were different - but nevertheless real. Can I afford to retire? I'm not sure - now my Dad's generation....... Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:08:41 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/08/the-pinch-closes-down-baby-boomers-justifications/#22679_108869 2010-02-09T13:08:41Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/08/the-pinch-closes-down-baby-boomers-justifications/#22679_108866 The author sounds like an ungrateful bastard. Probably isn't old enough to realise that times change and that people change. <br><br>Probably would have been better had we Baby Boomers aborted this one with our newly acquired abortion rights. Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:44:45 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/08/the-pinch-closes-down-baby-boomers-justifications/#22679_108866 2010-02-09T11:44:45Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_108735 Totally and 100% agreed. But you have mentioned the problem but not the solution. Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:02:54 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_108735 2010-02-08T19:02:54Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/what-your-cv-says-about-you/#22454_107889 I completely agree with Heather Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:30:05 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/what-your-cv-says-about-you/#22454_107889 2010-02-04T15:30:05Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/how-to-dress-to-stand-out-not-stick-out/#22481_107869 Sound advice. <br>I have to say from 15 years' experience at 2 global management consultancies that very few men -and almost no women - actually ever "got" business casual. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:26:04 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/how-to-dress-to-stand-out-not-stick-out/#22481_107869 2010-02-04T14:26:04Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/01/28/10-ways-to-delegate/#22373_107858 Thanks. Appreciate the sledge hammer. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:07:53 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/01/28/10-ways-to-delegate/#22373_107858 2010-02-04T13:07:53Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107853 I agree with the overhyped, overpaid talent bit, and the croneyism. But parts of this argument are pretty discouraging. So your work is, in good times, broadly interchangeable the output of a number of others with similar qualifications and experience? You're only distinctive by your under-performance? What incentive do the majority of ordinary mortals have to strive if only the rare, gifted ones truly deserve the rewards (financial or other)? Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:06:28 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107853 2010-02-04T12:06:28Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107850 Interesting reference to the vested interests that profit from the high payments to these not so rare individuals: the headhunters and others. But also reference might be made to the back-scratching that goes in the appointments at this rarefied level: in effect the overpaid appoint and arrange others to be overpaid as this is perceived to justify their own status. Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:47:11 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107850 2010-02-04T09:47:11Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/what-your-cv-says-about-you/#22454_107772 It's unlikely that recruiters are really thinking quite so cynically, although any sensible interviewer will want to explore whether some of these qualities are held <i>in extremis</i> and could be a problem. <br><br>I recommend that candidates steer clear of this 'list of qualities' mode of CV preparation, and instead allow those qualities to become self-evident as the reader skims through. <br><br>Using solid, brief examples to show how team-oriented or goal-focused you are raises your credibility far more than a boasting list will. <br><br>Read more about this and other ideas for your CV at: <a href><a href="http://www.relaunchyourcareer.co.uk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.relaunchyourcareer.co.uk</a></a Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:39:08 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/03/what-your-cv-says-about-you/#22454_107772 2010-02-03T22:39:08Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/01/28/10-ways-to-delegate/#22373_107711 ginsolia,<br><br>Your team did an amazing job on project XYZ, and you really came through as a team leader. Please pass along my praise to the rest of your team; they deserve it.<br><br>/example Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:37:09 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/01/28/10-ways-to-delegate/#22373_107711 2010-02-03T17:37:09Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107626 PhillBrown makes two excellent points, both covered <br>extensively in my book.<br><br>You can make a convincing case for Rooney's high wages, <br>but his individual performance is not perfectly measurable, as <br>PhillBrown implies. He relies on his team-mates to score goals. <br>Put him in a lesser team and he will be certainly be less <br>effective, although his obvious individual talent would no <br>doubt improve the team performance of Everton or Rochdale <br>to a significant degree.<br><br>The performance of players in some other team sports, such <br>as baseball and cricket, are more measurable. In these <br>sports, one player's performance is more or less unaffected <br>by the quality of his colleagues. <br><br>But although Rooney's performance is not perfectly <br>measurable, it is infinitely more so than that of the chief <br>executive of Shell, for example. Rooney has ten colleagues to <br>help him. The Shell CEO has around 102,000. And when Shell <br>is successful, it might well have absolutely nothing to do with <br>the CEO. It might be because economic conditions are <br>benign, or because it operates in an oligopoly with only three <br>or four competitors, or because its brand name is all-powerful <br>and longstanding. Rooney and his Manchester United <br>colleagues will win championships because they are better, as <br>individuals and as a team, than their competitors.<br><br>We should also make the point that Rooney's talent is utterly <br>transparent - we see it in front of our eyes on the television <br>screens. We can make a reasonable judgement that a lesser <br>player would not score as many goals in the United team, <br>despite having very skilled colleagues around him. How do we <br>know that a large number of other candidates to be CEO of <br>Shell would not preside over the same success (or failure) as <br>the current incumbent? <br><br>PhillBrown is right also to say that large organisations do not <br>allow for individual talent to emerge. Aside from the two <br>reasons for this in my original article, I would also say that <br>talent presents a threat. New ideas challenge the status quo, <br>and therefore jeopardise the position of current highly-paid <br>incumbents. As the eminent management writer, Peter <br>Drucker, put it: "There is a danger in any large-scale <br>organisation for the older men at the top to be afraid and <br>suspicious of talented or ambitious subordinates." Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:27:19 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/talent-myth-merits-little-currency-in-business/#22422_107626 2010-02-03T14:27:19Z http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/seven-strategy-pitfalls/#22426_107633 PeterJ and Sdewint, many thanks for your feedback. I can <br>assure that the article is based on personal, and often <br>painful, experience!<br><br>Ian, I agree with you in part. Strategies need to be <br>deliverable to be of any use, and should therefore be <br>grounded in reality. That said, a critical component of <br>crafting strategy t is to balance this realism with the <br>ambition and vision required to lead your market. Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:10:10 GMT http://blogs.bnet.co.uk/sterling-performance/2010/02/02/seven-strategy-pitfalls/#22426_107633 2010-02-03T14:10:10Z